May 9, 2010

Dreams of a Romulo Bobblehead Still Alive

PITTSBURGH, Pa. / May 9, 2010

Never give up.

As all my readers no doubt remember, it's been more than a year since the Vote For Romulo campaign failed. Paul Maholm won the fan vote for the final bobblehead of 2009. Romulo Sanchez was traded to the Yankees for Eric Hacker in the most low-profile trade of all time.

Before the giveaway, the 20 most powerful nations in the world decided to meet in Pittsburgh in a conspiracy designed to shut down transportation preventing me from even getting the Maholm bobblehead. I bought it on eBay. Me 1, oppressive major international organizations 0. But the Romulo bobblehead dream seemed to be over, without ever reaching the promised land.

Unbeknownst to even the most intrepid of bloggers, one man stood alone, refusing to give up on the Romulo bobblehead dream. That man was Romulo Sanchez. After posting a stellar record of 0-2, 6.48 this year for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre "Only Team With A Slash And A Hyphen" Yankees, there was nothing left for Romulo to prove. The vaunted organization of Ruth, Dimaggio and Swisher summoned Romulo Sanchez to the big leagues for this weekend's series against the Red Sox.

Blowout wins Friday and Saturday allowed manager Joe Girardi to save Romulo's Yankees debut for the Sunday national TV game. Then came what was surely Sunday's finest pitching performance in all of baseball.

In the fifth inning, the $82.5 million man A.J. Burnett was in trouble. Burnett trudged off the mound, defeated, as Girardi turned the ball over to the Yankees' new hope. Romulo Sanchez.

The rest is history. The Red Sox were helpless. Sanchez threw 3.2 innings allowing just one hit and one walk. He struck out three.

For some perspective, Mariano Rivera in his Yankees debut pitched 3.1 innings and gave up 5 runs. Ruth pitched 4 innings allowing 4 runs.

If any organization can afford to manufacture a Romulo Sanchez bobblehead, it is the Yankees. It still can happen. Go Bucs.

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